Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana

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Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana
Map
Map of Louisiana highlighting Pointe Coupee Parish
Location in the state of Louisiana
Map of the U.S. highlighting Louisiana
Louisiana's location in the U.S.
Statistics
Founded 1807
Seat New Roads
Largest city New Roads
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water

591 sq mi (1,530 km²)
557 sq mi (1,444 km²)
33 sq mi (86 km²), 5.64%
Population
 - (2000)
 - Density

22,763
41/sq mi (16/km²)
Time zone Central: UTC-6/-5
Named for: la pointe coupée, French for the place of the cut-off
Map of Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana With Municipal Labels

Pointe Coupee Parish, pronounced "Pwent Koo-Pay" and (pronounced "Point Coo-Pea" in English) (French: Paroisse de la Pointe-Coupée), is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is New Roads. As of 2000, the population was 22,763. New Roads is the birthplace of the late New Orleans mayor deLesseps Story Morrison (1912-1964). The center of population of Louisiana is located in Pointe Coupee Parish, in the city of New Roads [1].

Contents

[edit] Geography

The parish has a total area of 591 square miles (1,530 km²), of which, 557 square miles (1,444 km²) of it is land and 33 square miles (86 km²) of it (5.64%) is water. The land is mainly made up of prairies, but there are some swampy areas in the western part near the Atchafalaya River, and a few low bluffs. It has been determined that Pointe Coupee's levees lining the Mississippi River are the best maintained in the state of Louisiana. The Parish is home to the tallest smokestack towers in the state; the Triplet smokestacks at the Big Cajun 2 Plant along river road can be seen from miles around. At night, the Airplane warning lights at the top of them can be seen clearly from the Interstate 10 Horace Wilkinson Bridge in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, some 40 miles away. The parish is widely known for False River , an ox-bow lake located in the southeastern portion of the parish. The tiny community of Lacour was the birthplace of Major General John Archer Lejeune, Commandant of the United States Marine Corps.

[edit] Major highways

Pointe Coupee Parish has 498.98 miles of highways within its borders[1].

[edit] Minor Highwways

[edit] Major Waterways

[edit] Adjacent parishes

[edit] Demographics

Census Pop.  %±
1810 3,187
1830 5,942
1840 7,898 32.9%
1900 25,777
1910 25,289 −1.9%
1920 24,697 −2.3%
1930 21,001 −15%
1940 24,004 14.3%
1950 21,841 −9%
1960 22,488 3%
1970 22,002 −2.2%
1980 24,045 9.3%
1990 22,540 −6.3%
2000 22,763 1%
Est. 2006 22,648 [4] −0.5%
Pointe Coupee Parish Census Data[5][6]

As of the census[7] of 2000, there were 22,763 people, 8,397 households, and 6,171 families residing in the parish. The population density was 41 people per square mile (16/km²). There were 10,297 housing units at an average density of 18 per square mile (7/km²). The racial makeup of the parish was 68.91% White, 29.61% Black or African American, 0.17% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 0.32% from other races, and 0.56% from two or more races. 1.08% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 93.61% of the population spoke only English at home, while 4.89% spoke French or Cajun French and 0.96% spoke Spanish.[2]

There were 8,397 households out of which 35.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.70% were married couples living together, 15.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.50% were non-families. 23.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.17.

In the parish the population was spread out with 27.30% under the age of 18, 8.80% from 18 to 24, 27.00% from 25 to 44, 23.10% from 45 to 64, and 13.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 94.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.70 males.

The median income for a household in the parish was $30,618, and the median income for a family was $36,625. Males had a median income of $35,022 versus $20,759 for females. The per capita income for the parish was $15,387, ranking 23rd out of 64 parishes. About 18.70% of families and 23.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.20% of those under age 18 and 23.90% are the age of 65 and older.

[edit] Cities and towns

Pointe Coupee Parish map showing names and locations of towns and communities
Pointe Coupee Parish map showing names and locations of towns and communities

[edit] Incorporated

[edit] Unincorporated

[edit] High Schools

[edit] Public

[edit] Private

[edit] Defunct Schools

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 30°43′N 91°36′W / 30.71, -91.60